Polish pipe maker on Irish ground

Jakub P.

Hi everyone. My name is Jakub Paszkiewicz (32), I come from Poland and I live and work in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Together with my wife, we settled in Ireland nearly two years ago and after a whole year of preparations I became a novice pipe maker.

Few words about what I do and how I do it.

I make my pipes out of briar blocks from Mimmo Romeo. I use German ebonite and cumberland rods for my stems (mouthpiece). Everything I do, is one-man job and I work at one pipe at a time.

Along with constant progress, I started to think of selling my pipes. I believe I have reached the point when my latest pipes are simply too good to end up on a pile with my previous pipes. They will smoke well and will bring pleasure to whoever ends up with it.

Obviously, I will not be able to think of myself as an Irish pipe maker … ever. I was born and raised in Poland. But maybe I can turn somebody on to pipe making. That's a far-reaching plan. Before I can do that, I need to progress myself.

As soon as I reach 5 posts I will enclose some photos of my latest works. I can't wait to tell you something more about Mimmo Romeo, exceptional briar cutter.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in this thread.

Happy Smokes Everyone

Jakub

BeerNut

Welcome Jakub, and best of luck with the project. Just be aware that you can't use Boards.ie to sell your products. Looking forward to seeing your work though!

Jakub P.

OK, got it. Thanks.

Jakub P.

I'll try to show some more pics tomorrow. The one below shows all my recent works. Hope you like it.

Jakub P.

OK, here are some more pics. Enjoy.

Billiard

I was especially fond of this pipe. I still am.

Jakub P.

Straight, rusticated egg

Due to minor flaw this pipe had to be rusticated. Hence, my first and only, so far, rusticated pipe.

Jakub P.

Longshanked Dublin #1

Gorgeous grain with lovely birdseyes. Pretty successful contrast staining. Quite decent cumberland stem (mouthpiece) with Juma inlay.

Jakub P.

Longshanked Dublin #2

Same idea with few improvements.

Wildsurfer

That's beautiful work. Could you describe how you go about making something like this, any pics of the process?

ZeroCool17

Wow. I know nothing about pipes but that is beautiful craftsmanship.I wish you nothing but the best in your business and I love the idea of passing on this amazing skill!

Jakub P.

Thanks guys. I'm just a newbie pipe maker. You can easily find much more skilled pipe makers around the world. Sadly, none of them is Irish, which is quite strange because Ireland has great traditions in pipe making. Credit goes to Peterson of Dublin. But not only. Clay pipes known as "Dúidíns" were very common in Ireland once. They are still being produced in Knockcroghery in Co. Roscommon. By the way, I need to get one of these clay pipes. They are so lovely. Unfortunately they are very fragile and almost always have the same shape. At the same time they are cheap as chips which is definitely an advantage.
Both Peterson's pipes and clay pipes are so called "factory pipes". If you are interested in differences between factory pipes and hand made pipes, check out link below. These guys really know what they are talking about.

http://thepipeguys.com/handmade-vs-factory-smoking-pipes/

Wildsurfer wrote: »

That's beautiful work. Could you describe how you go about making something like this, any pics of the process?

I'm thinking about making some photo-relation of the whole process. So far I have only few pics of my workshop.

This is how I began:



As time was passing by, I was implementing some necessary changes. Lathe helps to save some time. But hands, files, rasps and abrasives do the most of the job. And this is my current workshop:

Jakub P.

At the beginning of this thread I mentioned name Mimmo Romeo. The exceptional briar cutter and a great chap. All of my briar blocks come from him.

Here, Mimmo talks about himself and his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL2nEBE3cE

And another one, Mimmo at work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xDclEWYEvE


I bet you wonder, how on earth he has managed to keep all fingers



Enough for today. I'll be posting my new pipes in this thread. Till next time.

thesandeman

Those are beautiful!! I don't smoke a pipe myself but I'm tempted after looking at those pics. It would work out cheaper than my 40+ a day habit anyway.
I know you're not selling, but what would something like those need to retail at if you did turn it into a business?

Jakub P.

thesandeman wrote: »

I know you're not selling, but what would something like those need to retail at if you did turn it into a business?

Well, these pipes are ready to be sold. Such is my intention. For last couple of weeks I've been trying to find a best way to distribute them. I checked mostly souvenir stores and one art gallery. At the same time I was tracking down my potential customers geathered in some kind of pipe smoking community. I think I found it so all I need is someone with money burning a hole in his pocket

I need to create a website and order a punch so my pipes are no longer anonymous. That's the plan for the nearest future.

Tomorrow I'll present a new pipe. It's not finished yet. It lacks a mouthpiece now.

Jakub P.

Longshanked Dublin #3

As promised, hot off the buffing wheel and served up fresh.

Jakub P.

It's getting crowded

thesandeman

If the pipe making doesn't work out you definitely have a career in photography or marketing.

Thephantomsmask

That churchwarden is simply stunning, great work.

D0NNELLY

Would Fox's in Dublin stock them for you?
Something tells me you would have no problem making up a display stand to complement your pipes.

Jakub P.

thesandeman wrote: »

If the pipe making doesn't work out you definitely have a career in photography or marketing.

Neither both I think

Not to mention I didn't sell any of my pipes, check out these photos:

http://yetipipe.tumblr.com/page/3

Micah makes absolutely astonishing pipes. Not only this. He also knows how to show it.

Jakub P.

Thephantomsmask wrote: »

That churchwarden is simply stunning, great work.

Thanks. You are too kind.

Jakub P.

D0NNELLY wrote: »

Would Fox's in Dublin stock them for you?
Something tells me you would have no problem making up a display stand to complement your pipes.

I'm still struggling with this issue. I'm not sure whether I should look for a pipe retailer or become my own dealer. Both options have pros and cons.

OU812

Im not a smoker, was just attracted by the post title on the home page.

Have to say they're beautiful products. You need to get some better photography - something as simple as a basic Lightbox (bigger with external lights).

Get yourself onto etsy & reddit & you should start to sell. Congratulations, lovely products. I almost wish I smoked to buy one.

Jakub P.

Due to constant problems with image hosting site, I decided to change for another one. It was a perfect opportunity to make a new, better photos. I noticed, when you add a well-known shape for pipe smokers (e.g. tobacco tin), pipe gains perspective and reference point. I hope you don't mind if I copy/paste description from previous posts. So, here we go.

Jakub P.

Billiard

I was especially fond of this pipe. I still am.


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/billiard-30575998

Jakub P.

Straight, rusticated egg

Due to minor flaw this pipe had to be rusticated. Hence, my first and only, so far, rusticated pipe.


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/rusticated-egg-30576362

Jakub P.

Long egg

This time ebonite stem was replaced with Juma - "which greatly resemble ivory in both feel and appearance".


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/long-straight-egg-30576920

Jakub P.

Churchwarden

One of the oldest shapes and one of my favourites.


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/churchwarden-30577008

pawrick

Just came across your post, congrats on the lovely looking work. I'm not a smoker but I always the look of a quality pipe. Best of luck and hopefully you succeed. I definitely think you should try getting some stock in to some tourist sites like in muckross house and cliffs of moher etc.

Jakub P.

Longshanked Dublin #1

This pipe was sold before I had the chance the make new pics but I post it once again.

Gorgeous grain with lovely birdseyes. Pretty successful contrast staining. Quite decent cumberland stem (mouthpiece) with Juma inlay.


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/dublin-1-30577181

Jakub P.

Longshanked Dublin #2

Same idea with few improvements.


http://nouw.com/jp_pipes/dublin-2-30577296